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Monthly Archives: August 2013

The Mortgage Bankers Association released a weekly survey as of Aug. 21st, 2013 that spoke about mortgage applications. We recently had been seeing the market increase at a rapid rate and it is surprising that applications would decrease so suddenly.
The MBA stated that their finding s shows, “The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 4.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 5 percent compared with the previous week.”
Form the press release we can see that this drop is not due to the lack of people buying home, but rather people no longer refinancing. “The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 1 percent from one week earlier,” where as “The Refinance Index has dropped 62.1 percent from the recent peak reached during the week of May 3, 2013.”
It seems that this recent shift away from refinancing is really affecting the real-estate market. The MBA state that this change has greatly to do with rate changes in the past month, “The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 4.68 percent from 4.56 percent, with points increasing to 0.42 from 0.39 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan- to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.”
This is speaking on a national level. The MBA covers 75% of retail residential mortgage applications in the U.S. . People should not be afraid to purchase or refinance right now. Rates being in the mid 4’s are truly not bad. In the time I have spent working in the mortgage industry I have seen rates more than twice that and people were still buying homes.
Buyers need to be aware of that is happening in the market and not hesitate to ask questions and seek out answers. For the full press release please visit http://www.mortgagebankers.org/NewsandMedia/PressCenter/85394.htm .
For any questions of suggestions please feel free to email me at Ingrid.Quinn@cobaltmortgage.com of visit me at http://www.CobaltMortgae.com/IngridQuinn or http://www.ScottsdaleMortageExpert.com

A Reverse Mortgage enables seniors, age 62 and older, to access a portion of the equity in their primary residence without giving up ownership, and without making monthly mortgage payments. Borrowers do not have to repay the loan until the last surviving borrower permanently leaves the residence. Borrowers must own their home outright or have a mortgage balance low enough to be paid off with the reverse mortgage proceeds and/or acceptable funds to close. Current LTV range 52–78% (range may change with interest rate changes) All borrowers must be titleholders, all titleholders must be borrowers. The lender does not take the home at death. Heirs sell or keep the property and keep any profit after repaying loan.
A Reverse Mortgage can ease senior’s financial strain. With a reverse mortgage, the equity in a home is converted into cash. This can be done in a few different ways, including monthly payouts, one-time payouts, or a mixture of the two. It seems to be that many people are not quite sure if this solution is the right one to choose. The truth is there are both pros and cons to a reverse mortgage. I will be discussing both sides with in this article.
Many believe that seniors are not given the full story about the details involved with cashing out on the equity in your home. Seniors are required to attend homebuyer/homeowner education to participate in a Reverse Mortgage. This should ensure that they have full understanding of the process.
Closing costs for this type of loan are higher. Although closing costs are standard with all mortgages, they are somewhat higher with a reverse mortgage because the origination fees and an upfront servicing fee are collected.
There are several reasons why a Reverse Mortgage may be a good solution for a senior. One of the top reasons people use a reverse mortgage solution is because borrowers are not expected to pay back the loan while they are living in the home. A senior can select from five payment plans:
Tenure- equal monthly payments as long as at least one borrower lives and continues to occupy the property as a principal residence.
Term- equal monthly payments for a fixed period of months selected.
Line of Credit- unscheduled payments or in installments, at times and in an amount of your choosing until the line of credit is exhausted.
Modified Tenure- combination of line of credit and scheduled monthly payments for as long as you remain in the home.
Modified Term- combination of line of credit plus monthly payments for a fixed period of months selected by the borrower.
A home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) tends to be the most popular because it is a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insured mortgage.
Many people prefer a Reverse Mortgage loan because they have an easier qualification process than a regular mortgage. There is no minimum credit score or income requirements to obtain one. Seniors generally have fixed or retirement income that may not support normal loan qualifications. Nearly all homes are eligible, including HUD-approved condominiums and single detached homes and some manufactured homes. For more information or comments about a Reverse Mortgage please contact me at ingrid.quinn@cobaltmortgage.com or visit my website at http://www.scottsdalemortgageexpert.com or http://www.cobaltmortgage.com/ingridquinn.

In today’s volatile market, consumers need to understand what a lender offers as options for locking in their loan. Many consumers think that when they begin speaking to a lender, the rate they discuss that day will be the rate they carry from there on. However, this is not the case. Laws govern what constitutes a loan application. An actual loan application requires that 6 pieces of information are received, which triggers disclosures for the good faith estimate and the ability to lock in loans. These items are social security number to pull credit, borrower name, estimated value, monthly income, loan amount sought & property address. These six things are important because without these six items a lending company is not able to give a borrower a locked rate.
A borrower is required to give all of the information except the address when prequalifying. Once you have a property under contract then you have the ability to lock in a rate for the loan. Loan rates are locked in for a specific period of time. This time frame is based upon the close of escrow date. Typically loans are locked 15, 30, 45 or 60 days. There is the option of locking in rate for a longer period of time, but this is mainly used when you are purchasing a home that is being built for you and will not be completed with in 60 days.
What does locking in a rate/loan actually mean? When you lock your loan your lender should provide you the rate and/or points as well as the specific date of expiration of those terms. Regardless of how the market changes, your rate will continue to hold as it was locked. This can be both a good and bad thing.
Whether the market improves and rates lower or the market worsens and rates increase you are guaranteed to have the rate you have in writing. There can be an exception to these rules, but only with some lenders. This is called a renegotiation policy. This can typically occur when the market improves at least .25%(depending on your lender’s rules) and your lender will allow you to change your locking contract. Keep in mind that when you choose to lock in your rate, you are asking the lender to protect you and you are making a commitment to do the loan with your lender. The shopping rate time is over. Renegotiation is a courtesy provided by your lender.
Borrowers need to make sure that when they go to lock in their rate, that their lender gives them their terms in writing. You should never assume something has been done without seeing it in writing. Be safe, talk to your lender about locking and what their renegotiating options are. Never hesitate to ask questions and learn as much as you can.
For questions for suggestions please feel free to email me at Ingrid.Quinn@CobaltMortgage.com or visit me at http://www.scottsdalemortgageexpert.com or http://www.CobaltMortgage.com/IngridQuinn .

As of last Thursday the number of homeowners who are either facing foreclosure or are behind on their mortgage payment has dropped to the lowest point in the past five years.
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) had a press release last week that stated, “The serious delinquency rate, the percentage of loans that are 90 days or more past due or in the process of foreclosure, was 5.88 percent, a decrease of 51 basis points from last quarter, and a decrease of 143 basis points from the second quarter of last year.”
The MBA talked about how the number of foreclosures we are seeing is more of a historical normal as opposed to the high rate of foreclosure we saw even a year ago. We are seeing the housing market improve each and every quarter.
The MBA said, “Most states are at or only slightly above longer-term averages, and some of the worst-hit states are showing improvement.”
Delinquencies and foreclosures have returned closer to their pre-crisis levels in states such as California and Arizona that don’t require mortgage companies to take back homes by appearing before a judge.
California and Arizona had foreclosure rates of 1.6% and 1.5%, putting them at No. 37 and No. 38 in foreclosures nationally. Those states had the third and fourth worst foreclosure rates in the country at the depth of the housing downturn.
Nationally, banks initiated foreclosure on around 0.6% of mortgages during the second quarter, down from a peak of 1.4% in 2009 but above a more normal level of 0.4%. “The rate of new foreclosures being started is still way too high, but it is down from the peak,” said Jay Brinkmann, Economist and SVP of Research and Economics.
Mr. Brinkman also said, “While overall economic growth and jobs creation have been less than robust, the improvements have not been consistent across the country or all sectors. The result is that those states with the weakest economic growth and the most sclerotic foreclosure systems have seen the slowest improvements in delinquency and foreclosure rates.”
All in all we can see that the housing market is still working its way back up even if it is not at the same rapid rate that we have been seeing in the past few months. However, it is nice to hear that the economic forecast for the near future looks good.
For questions or suggestions, please feel free to email me at Ingrid.Quinn@cobaltmortgage.com or visit me at http://www.CobaltMortgage.com/IngridQuinn or http://www.ScottsdaleMortgageExpert.com

Mortgage points generally refer to a loan origination fee and/or discount points. Discount points refer to the amount of money that a person pays to a lender to get a loan at a specific rate. Points are paid when discounting the rate for a loan. A lender usually has a menu of rates available on any given day at a variety of costs. Par pricing is when no discount points are required.
An origination fee is what a borrower will pay the lender for their services. Since the change in lending and disclosure rules in 2009, the term origination fee was changed to origination charge. The origination charge will include any lender admin fees and an origination point if applicable.
Before you can even consider whether or not purchasing points is a good idea, you have to make sure that you will have the extra cash because points will increase your total closing costs. Points can be financed into a refinance transaction but not into a purchase. Sellers can pay points for a buyer as part of a closing cost concession.
Positive mortgage points can be viewed as a form of pre-paid interest. Each point is equal to 1% total loan amount. Why would you want to pre-pay a part of your interest? The buyer is offering to pay an up front fee to receive a discount on the interest rate. The reduction in interest will give the buyer lower monthly mortgage payments. With mortgages duration of typically 15, 20 or even 30 years, the discount points will help save you a huge amount of interest over the life span of the loan. Positive discount points are usually worthwhile to a home buyer if he or she will maintain the mortgage for a while.
There is a second type of mortgage points, negative mortgage points or as termed, Yield Spread, work very much like positive mortgage points except in reverse. Instead of you paying the bank to lower your rate, the bank will pay you to take a higher rate. As an example, if you were offered a rate of 5.5 percent on your $100,000 loan. The bank is now offering you one point to raise your rate to 5.75 percent. Therefore, they are basically giving you $1,000 in order to raise your interest rate. This will also result in you paying a higher mortgage payment every month. These points don’t end up as a written check for the money. The yield will just be applied to your total closing costs on the loan.
Closing costs can result in a few thousand dollars of out-of-pocket expense. Amounts for closing cost vary by state, location and amount of loan requested. Purchase transactions and refinances can have a difference in costs too.
“Breaking even is a major factor in deciding what to do with points. Something the buyer will want to inquire about is how long it will take to “break even” in regards to possibly selling the home before their loan is paid in full. You will want to have retained the mortgage at least until you “break even”, if not longer, to make it worthwhile to reap benefits from discount points. Keep in mind there may also be a tax benefit to paying points and you will want to consult a tax advisor on this subject and what may be beneficial to your individual circumstance.
For questions of suggestions please feel free to email me at Ingrid.Quinn@cobaltmortgae.com or visit me at http://www.ScottsdaleMortgageExpert.com or http://www.CobaltMortgage.com/IngridQuinn